MACSUR SciPol Policy Brief 2: Synergies and Trade offs between Soil Improving Management, Climate Change Mitigation and Agri Food Productivity

The health of our soil is fundamental to the delivery of essential ecosystem services; agricultural productivity, food security and environmental welfare ( e.g. ecological integrity and conservation, crop nutrition, carbon sequestration (balancing) and animal welfare etc.). Moreover, soils are an integral part of developing agricultural policies, e.g. UK Agricultural Bill, 2020; Environmental Land Management Scheme. This policy brief delivers the output of the UK ‘Capturing the Potential of Soil’ workshop (held on 23 March 2021) which focused on the link between soil health, primarily soil organic carbon, and productivity. Emphasis is placed on the research challenges to improve soil health, the implementation priorities that must be held and the potential co-benefits could be.

The MACSUR SciPol knowledge forum is a pilot exercise initiated by the Joint Programming Initiative for Agriculture, Food Security and Climate Change (FACCE JPI) to bring science and policy actors together for the strategic design of climate change adaptation and mitigation solutions in the agri-food sector in Europe. This policy brief contributes to this mission by providing evidence-based information to policy for achieving carbon neutrality by 2050, adapting to climate change and understanding synergies and trade-offs in achieving these targets.